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The International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund: 2017-2018 Annual Report

To be honest, a lot of anti-fascists weren’t sure if any of us were going to survive the onslaught of fascist extremism and violence that communities all around the world were subjected to in 2017. We lost several committed anti-fascists to horrific levels of bigoted violence and terrorism (as we write this almost exactly a year after an alt-right white supremacist stabbed two men to death in Portland for coming to the aid of two Muslim girls the bigot was harassing). For every anti-fascist that fell in 2017-2018, dozens more were terribly injured; for every antifa injured, dozens more were arbitrarily arrested by the fascists’ enforcers/protecters – the police (more on them in a moment!).

For The International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund, this meant that our third year of operation was one when more than ever, anti-fascists from all over the world depended on us to help them out of difficult and potentially life-altering or life-ending circumstances. Here’s what we did to help over the last twelve months:

We donated over $21,000USD to 242 anti-fascists. This was 40% more monetary support to anti-fascists than the year before. The number of anti-fascists and anti-racists we were able to provide material aid to tripled from the previous year. This support was truly international and went to help antifa in nine countries:

228 in the United States

Four in Canada

Three in Germany

Two in France

Two in the UK

One each in Austria, Finland, Poland, and Rojava

87% of the contributions covered legal defence, court costs, fines, and prisoner support; 12% of contributions covered medical bills, injury recovery and living costs while antifa dealt with injuries sustained in attacks against them; 1 % of contributions covered emergency relocation or to support the family of antifa imprisoned or murdered.

The Defence Fund‘s Decisions Crew (the body that discusses and decides on what support to give requests or proposals received) grew 41% to include 581 antifa from 17 different countries.

Some interesting developments from our work supporting & defending anti-fascists came out over the last year:

There is no question that over the last three years The International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund has established itself as the most credible and trustworthy way to provide support to anti-fascists and anti-racists internationally, just as there is no question that the need to stick together and have each other’s back is greater than it’s been in decades. If you support the goals of anti-fascism; if you believe in opposing bigotry, discrimination, and hatred, then you really should be supporting the work the Defence Fund does. Start by signing up to become a monthly donor, or by making a one-time donation, or by printing out and sharing our flyer, or by holding a fundraiser, or by sharing this post. Don’t wait because right now there someone somewhere who can’t wait for the help they need.